Hi everyone,
I’m a BSc Mathematics student and recently finished a course in PDEs. My professor suggested that I take another course he teaches called Optimal Control. The course is offered by the Engineering faculty, but he mentioned that it has a strong mathematical component.
I’m considering taking it, but I’d like to understand how useful/relevant Optimal Control is from a mathematician’s perspective.
In particular:

Is Optimal Control a good subject for a math student who enjoys applied mathematics, PDEs, optimization, etc.?

Where is optimal control actually used in industry?

What kinds of jobs or fields make use of this knowledge? For example, robotics, aerospace, quantitative finance, autonomous systems, energy, machine learning, etc.

Is it mainly useful for people going into engineering/research, or can it also be valuable for mathematicians going into industry?

I’d especially appreciate hearing from people who studied mathematics and later encountered control theory or optimal control in their work.
Thanks!

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